Changing Stories Foundation
“In our experience in working with displaced children, we’ve encountered many unaccompanied minors navigating the camps and streets alone.
These young individuals embark on dangerous journeys to safety without the support of their parents.
Sadly, they’re often misunderstood or unfairly stigmatized. However, they’re simply young adults in need of understanding and assistance.
We want to change this story by helping them express themselves, showcasing their inner world, dreams and hopes.”
- Changing Stories Foundation
Having recently come across these thought-provoking words on the website of this dynamic organization,, the Phonetic Planet team was prompted to seek out Linda van der Knaap, with whom we were able to learn a little more about the Changing Stories Foundation. Enjoy this fifteen minute read!
Thanks for agreeing to chat with us, Linda. Can you tell us a little about your individual backgrounds, and how you connected with each other to form this unique initiative?
We are a group of professional performers, theater makers, drama teachers and therapists using the power of play and imagination to uplift children in refugee camps, slums and asylum shelters along the European borders.
We formed the initiative in 2017 as a response to the crisis that refugees were in on the Greek islands. At the time we were performing on a regular basis at a refugee center in our home town in Arnhem and found that the number of children that participated in our program dropped, because most of the people became stuck on Greek islands such as Lesvos. During an evaluation we decided that we wanted to go “ where the need is high” and so we decided to create a crowdfunding campaign to raise money to execute the project on Lesvos. In the beginning of 2018 we developed our first project there.
After our successful pilot project on Lesvos we decided to keep on going. With the help of our network we funded another project later that same year (2018) and after our third successful project in 2019 we decided to start forming a foundation.
The main goal of this Changing Stories Foundation is to visit places where displaced children spend their childhood; these are often places that are not suitable or conducive for experiencing a typical, healthy childhood because, for example, there is no access to education and perhaps not even a safe space in which to play and engage in self-expression.
We want to offer children growing up in these circumstances an outlet and to develop creative skills that will help to make them more resilient. We give children the opportunity to play, to train the power of imagination and with that we strengthen their ability to imagine an alternative future. Since, without an inner imagination of an alternative future, there is no hope, no place to go.
Linda, what are some of your most memorable experiences from your performances or workshops so far?
The interaction we have with the children we meet never fails to surprise us. It is a very special sight, seeing children unwind and relax and being able to offer such a safe place and healing experience. For me the most memorable experiences are those where children are at first very afraid, to the point that they don't speak or even interact with us, but after our session they are dancing, playing and having fun. Sometimes we see the opposite effect - children that are unable to sit still and aren't at ease being able to relax and focus.
The anecdote I alway share is that of a (unaccompanied) boy of around 10 years old that was very energetic and demanding in contact with me. I was facepainting him and it was very hard to do so because he was so excited that he couldn't sit still, but I tried my very best to transform him (using face paint) into an awesome tiger. Not even five minutes later I saw him again: his face had been washed completely clean and I was a bit insulted, to be honest. This feeling stayed with me only briefly, however, until I saw him join the facepainting queue again. It turned out that he hadn’t washed his face because he didn't like my artwork, he had washed it because he wanted to experience the soft and nurturing contact of me face painting him again! That moment broke my heart a little bit.
You devote significant attention to the needs of unaccompanied minors. Can you tell us a little about that?
There are so many children on the move without their parents, it is shocking. They make the journey towards safety all alone without anyone to keep them safe. The Netherlands (our home country) is the second European country to host the most unaccompanied minors. The lack of care for this group falls short because there is
a big shortage of professionals in the educational and welfare system to support these youngsters. Last year we started a pilot project for this group and it was a big success. The reaction to the project convinced us that it was much needed and so we started up a project for this target group. This year we have two local projects for unaccompanied minors and next year we will do three projects for them (including one abroad).
How do you envision your organization growing in the future? What dreams do you have as a team?
We of course hope to not be needed in the future, as we wish all children will live freely and in peace. But unfortunately it doesn't look like that is happening anytime soon. So we are motivated to keep going and share hope, light and laughter wherever we can.
We have the great ambition to become a center of knowledge and to share our expertise when it comes to increasing resilience by art and creativity among refugee children. We want to draw the focus to the enormous resilience these children have and the importance to encourage them through creativity and play. Hoping to inspire other professionals in the field to use their talents for this purpose also!
You can learn a great deal of information about all of Changing Stories Foundation’s initiatives on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and on our website.
Thank you so much, Linda, for the insightful conversation! We look forward to hearing updates about your work; it’s been so interesting to learn about your creative approach to connecting with children and young people who live their lives in very compromised circumstances. Best of luck to you guys as you continue to play a role in their changing stories!
Note: all photos used in this article were provided by Linda/ Changing Stories Foundation.